


Apparently I Love You

by theForsakenJedi69



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Dressrosa Arc, Hanahaki Disease, Light Angst, M/M, OR IS IT, One-Sided Attraction, Pining, Post-Time Skip, Punk Hazard Arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2020-10-21 16:34:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20696642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theForsakenJedi69/pseuds/theForsakenJedi69
Summary: ‘The Hanahaki Disease is an illness born from one-sided love, where the patient throws up and coughs up flower petals when they suffer from unrequited love. The infection can be removed through surgery, but the feelings disappear along with the flower. It can also be cured if the other party returns the affections. The stages are first difficulty breathing, coughing fits, spewing up flower petals occasionally, then often, and finally spewing up whole flowers until they can no longer breath and inevitably die of asphyxiation.





	1. It Starts with a Cough

**Author's Note:**

> First Hanahaki storyline ever, hope its okay, chapter 2 is in the works!  
enjoy!
> 
> Inspired by: My Love For You Is Choking Me by ObsidianWingsofMidnight : https://archiveofourown.org/works/11067879 
> 
> Which is a much better Hanahaki LawLu I highly recommend and if I knew how to embed links, I would lol.
> 
> My flower language reference: https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/publications/flowers/flowers.html

_ ‘The _ ** _Hanahaki Disease_ ** _ is an illness born from one-sided love, where the patient throws up and coughs up flower petals when they suffer from unrequited love. The infection can be removed through surgery, but the feelings disappear along with the flower. It can also be cured if the other party returns the affections. This does not occur with every one-sided love, it is actually quite rare and only really takes hold when the love is very strong. It is also quite a painful disease. The victim slowly suffocates as their lungs are filled with roots and flower petals. The stages are first difficulty breathing, coughing fits, spewing up flower petals occasionally, then often, and finally spewing up whole flowers until they can no longer breath and inevitably die of asphyxiation. This also can occur with mutual love if the parties involved are not aware of the others feelings thus making it seem “unrequited”. Some people have reported that people become so consumed by their love that they become the flowers they have grown.’ _

  
  
  


Law sat at his desk reading the words over and over again, even though he had memorized them by now. He finally pushed the test book across the desk as he slumped back into his chair. _ Love? I can’t love. I forgot how. _Yet there he sat, in his usual spot, his mouth tasting of iron, red and orange petals decorating his desk. He glanced at the flower guide strewn about his floor. He had already looked up the meaning. Red, respect, desire, and courage. Orange, excitement and enthusiasm. Law was embarrassed by the obviousness staring him in the face. He knew who this pain in his chest was for, and he audibly groaned. 

Law noticed this tightness in his chest after Luffy screams, cries, destroys, suffers. Something about seeing this incredible force of a man suddenly crumble..._hurt, _ and he didn’t know why. He just looked at his hands that had worked endlessly to heal the physical wound but were useless against the pain Luffy felt now. He was confused about why he cared about a random rookie, why he had saved him, why he was so desperate. It was overwhelming to have so many unknown feelings. He remembers not looking back as he left Luffy on that island, his chest aching.

He had distracted himself when Luffy disappeared, worrying about his own revenge plot and his crew. Yet every few weeks he would dream of a boy whose smile was blinding, and he would wake up to heaving lungs. A year had passed since he had heard anything about the young captain and he knew the cough was getting worse. The coughing fits would happen more frequently, his lungs burning as he tried to catch his breath. Law refused to look into his ailment, afraid of what he might find. As the months progressed the coughing slowly got worse until another year had passed. It was every week now. 

Law had made his way into the new world, slowly sewing his revenge plot together behind Cesar’s and Doflamingo’s back. He had let his crew go on ahead as he learned as much as he could about Doflamingo’s plan with Kaido. Until he came across the daily newspaper. A bright smile stared back._ Luffy? He’s back? _ He read the first few paragraphs before he doubled over. He chest squeezed tightly, pain ringing through him as he attempted to just _ breathe! _ The moment he got a small amount of air to fill his lungs, he coughed painfully, hacking up dozens of flower petals. Minutes went by before he could take a normal breath, his throat and lungs stinging from all the harsh treatment. He stared at the flower petals covered in blood and saliva. _Fuck. _

  
  


He sat in his office on Punk Hazard after reading up on his ailment and sighed heavily. _ How could I fall in love with someone? Anyone? Let alone that Strawhat idiot. Why? _ It was like he was a kid again back in Flevance with Amber Lead Poisoning. He was dying from another disease he had no control over. Slowly, painfully. _ Well the solution is easy right? Just cut it out. _ He felt his heart squeeze at the thought. _ Uh that was odd… _ He sighed as he rubbed his temples as he looked at the clock. He had been sitting there for hours. _ I need to sleep before I really lose it. _

Law had just finished done taking down Smoker-ya and his fleet when he heard a sharp yelling. ‘Oi! Oi!’ he turned to find the last person he needed to see. The last person he ever wanted to see right now. His chest tightened but it felt different, warmer somehow. _ Stupid disease, stupid Luffy-ya, stupid flowers. _Luffy ran up and thanked him for saving his life as Law reminded the younger that they were enemies. _ That coat looks cute- shut up stupid brain. _ It felt weird to hear his heart rate increase while knowing his heart was not even in his chest. It was an odd feeling. Feeling his heart skip a beat at Luffy’s bright smile. _ Jesus what am I, a love-sick puppy? _He needed to get away from him. 

Too bad the Strawhat crew had other plans. They were running a muck and were on the verge of ruining the months he had spent on his plan in a matter of hours. He geared himself up for what he knew would be the best and worst decision of his entire life. 

“We have to form an alliance”

It hadn’t even been an hour and he regretted everything. The Strawhats, especially Luffy, had no idea how to stick to a plan. Law felt like killing them, all of them, the whole lot. They were idiots. Law sighed when they finally made it off the island with Ceasar- _not part of the plan by the way_\- but he was ready to just be done with Punk Hazard. He felt relieved to finally have his heart back in his chest, though it wasn't getting any time to relax. Luffy _clung_ to him, smiling like the sun and Law was afraid his heart would stop. Maybe it did a few times.

This went on for days, weeks, and Law didn’t know how much longer he could keep this up. The closer he got to the Strawhat crew, to Luffy, the heavier his chest got, the tighter it squeezed. It was getting hard to hide the coughing, let alone the beautiful petals that followed. He was exhausted, he hardly slept, Luffy plagued him during the day and in his dreams at night. He was coughing more now, more petals falling from his mouth. 

Luffy clings to him, always begging to play or fish or spar. Luffy was bored a lot and needed a lot of attention. But they needed to get serious. They were almost to Dressrosa and they needed to be ready to fight that insane man. Law was ready to lay down his life to avenge Cora but was Luffy going to stick to the plan? Law ran over the plan for Dressrosa again with Luffy, but he wasn’t having it. He threw his arms around Law’s neck and whined that he was ‘booooored’. Law’s face felt hot all the way to his ears.   
  


Then, all of a sudden he felt something new. Something painful. It scratched and clawed its way up his throat. He coughed and gagged as his mouth filled with blood. Pushing Luffy off of him as he doubled over to hack out whatever was caught in his esophagus. His eyes pricked as his lungs burned with every cough and the Strawhat crew called to him in concern. _ Finally _ , the lodged object came out and Law took in shallow breaths, letting himself fall to the deck. The crew gasped and so did he. It was part of a flower. Not just a few petals. Almost a fully formed flower, drenched in blood. _Its progressed way faster than I thought it would. Shit! _

Luffy called for Chopper immediately, who nodded and ran to the infirmary. Luffy lifted Law up in one swoop and ran towards the medical bay. Law felt his heart nearly jump out of his chest.

“L-Luffy-ya! Oi! Put me down!” He struggled against the other captain but his grip was firm and his face serious. 

“Torao, your sick.” Luffy stated, like that was the end of it. 

“I know that! I have been for two years!” Law shouted as they walked into the med bay. Chopper turned to him swiftly, eyes full of confusion and concern. 

“TWO YEARS?!” Chopper squealed, “Why didn’t you fix it?” Now Chopper and Luffy looked at him, waiting for an answer. 

“I… I only looked into it recently. Before it was just a cough here and there. Then sometimes petals and now-” Law was cut off by Luffy,

“Petals? Like the flower earlier?” Luffy looked even more confused now. Law sighed. 

“It’s Hanahaki Disease.” Chopper gasped when Law spoke, flipping through his textbook, “Also known as the Love Curse. If you have an unrequited love… Sometimes this happens. There’s flowers growing in my lungs, slowly killing me.” Law was _ tired. _ Tired of being looked at with pity, tired of talking, tired of coughing, so so _ tired. _

“How do we fix it?” Luffy’s eyes were like a hawk’s, sharp, serious, _deadly._ Chopper hovered over his textbook and looked at Law with big eyes. 

“Law you knew that you could be cured by confessing right? O-or by removing the plant and the feelings all together? But you haven’t done either have you?” Chopper looked at him, waiting for a good explanation. 

“I can’t tell them, I don’t even-” he glanced at Luffy, “I hardly know them, I don’t even know why I love them, why I have this _stupid_ disease!” 

“Then cut them out” 

Law halted. He knew that was the right choice, clearly, rationally but… Something told him not to, something _begged_ him not to. Why? He only lived to avenge Cora, he shouldn’t care about some frivolous feeling for a pirate who would just end up being the end of him. He shouldn’t care. But he did. 

“I can’t. I _won’t_.” Law said, his voice sounding smaller than he had intended. Law stood and abruptly left the two in the med bay, making his way to his own room on the ship.


	2. Love Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the chapter, also sorry this sucks  
thanks for clicking!  
I dont have beta sorry for the errors

Law reached him room just in time to hack up bits of blood stained flowers, the red and orange seemingly mocking him as they slowly descended to the floor.. The words ringing in his ears _ ‘cut them out’ _ . He slammed his fist into the door he was leaning against, trying to catch his breath. _ Forget this stupid disease. _He would probably die at the hands of Doflamingo anyways. He sighed as his shoulders fell, suddenly feeling exhausted. His eyes felt heavy, his limbs like lead as he dragged himself to bed and stumbled into the covers. 

_ ‘Law?’ _Law squinted as he opened his eyes to see the bright boy in the bed next to him. 

_ ‘Luffy? What are you doin-’ _ was all he managed to say before his body forgot how to function. _ Soft. _In one swift motion Luffy had leaned forward locking their lips together and time had stopped. Blood rushed to his ears and he’s suddenly very aware of everything. Luffy so close, the warmth on this lips, his heart trying to pound its way out of his chest, the heat rising to his cheeks as him and Luffy locked eyes. He watched as in slow motion Luffy closed those dark eyes and kissed deeper, climbing closer to Law and-

** _THUD_ **

Law stared at the ceiling as his body shivered from the sudden loss of heat as he fell on the floor. _A dream?_ _Of course it’s a dream! Luffy doesn’t- _Laws chest tightened as he thought, _he doesn’t love you. _ Why did that sting so much? _Why do I want him to love me? _Now he’s coughing all over again, for almost 10 minutes he hacks and gags as petals he’s never seen before rip out of his lungs. _Yellow carnations? And Purple.. What are those?_ He rushes to his makeshift desk in his room and flips through his flower language book. _‘Yellow carnation : Rejection, Purple Hyacinth: I am sorry, please forgive me.’ _

“I’m sorry... I love you” Law whispered, “ when you don’t love me.” _ Fuck. _ Even in his dreams or when he’s dying, nothing will let him forget who he was dying for. He crushed the flower petals, tightening his fist around them hoping they would just disappear as his chest _ ached. _

They were close now, Dressrosa was in their sight. This was it, finally, ten years coming down to this final closing act. He prepared himself, for closure, to finally be able to tell Cora he was avenged, to say goodbye to this world even. He had lived a decent life until now thanks to Cora-san, he didn’t dare ask for more. Law’s chest tightened painfully at the thought of saying goodbye. Goodbye to Bepo, Penguin, Shachi, to the Strawhat crew and especially… 

“Luffy…” He whispered to himself, feeling vines climb their way higher in his throat. 

This time he coughed up a single flower, a new flower. A Jonquil he knew, he memorized the flower identification book, and it hurt so much more to know what it meant. ‘_ Love me’. _He threw the flower overboard as the plan began, hopefully throwing his feelings with it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading, I love comments and Kudos!


	3. Why Do I Love You

Law had underestimated Doflamingo, and overestimated himself this time. He was weak. His body trembled as he failed to summon a Room, his lungs heaving for more than one reason. He knew he would die here, but this soon? _What about Luffy? Would he get away? They had barely started! Would Luffy die-_ **_Pain. _**Blood poured into his mouth as his body tensed unwillingly, vision white, his ears ringing. _Shot, I’ve been shot. _Doflamingo just cackled as the sides of Laws vision filled with a haze, hardly seeing the flower petals falling as he was lifted from the ground. 

** _SLAM_ **

He was dropped painfully onto the ground, pain seizing all his nerves, screaming in alarm.  _ Fuck. _ Every part of him was aching in pain, crippling, blinding pain. But this wasn’t over yet, not while he was still alive-

A scream was ripped from his throat along with a few petals. Sharp, throbbing, scolding pain claimed his body as he nearly passed out, feeling bullet after bullet rip through his flesh. His vision blurred as it landed on the eyes of an all familiar man.  _ Luffy? I’m so sorry.  _ Then  **black. **

_ Am I still alive?  _ The first alarming thoughts that rang in his head, right before the ache sets in. Oh and it was an  _ ache. _ Pain filled his senses as he began to panic. He tried to assess the damage. His eyes slowly open to see multiple abdominal gunshot wounds along with sea-prism handcuffs on his wrists.  _ Fuck _ . _ I have lost quite a bit of blood, and these cuffs aren’t helping. I can’t move, shit.  _ He lifted his heavy eyes to see that smug mug of that pink nightmare, Doflamingo. 

It all happened so fast, Kyros, Doflamingo’s string double, and… Luffy. Laws chest tightened seeing Luffy in arms reach of him, and it stung because he was also in reach of the pink devil.  _ What is he doing here? Our alliance is over! I am ready to die but Luffy… He can’t. I can’t lose someone I love again. _

Yet Luffy did not die, he smiled. He tried to unlock the cuffs unsuccessfully, and instead of leaving Law there, like a rational pirate would have, Luffy instead picked Law up. Then? Yup. Jumped off the damn building. 

As they fell, a lot went through Law’s mind.  _ What makes me love you? Was it the smile like Cora’s? Was it the stupid decisions he made? Was it the blind way he charged forward with everything he had, putting it all on the line for what he believed? Hmm, him and Cora would have gotten along. Was it the way he dragged me around, how he made everyone smile no matter how grim it might seem? How he could make anyone an ally and a believer in his dreams?  _ Law looked at those features, young, smiling, and thought back to the crying, broken man he was two years ago.  _ Why did I want to help you? Because I knew what that pain was like? Why do I love you?  _ His chest tightened and vines scratched his throat. Luffy’s dark orbs looked into his and Law only knew one thing when they landed finally on the ground,  _ Luffy, I love you. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry these chapters are short   
hope you like!


	4. Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!

>

Wow having this many wounds and being carried around like a rag-doll did not feel good. His head pounded like his brain was bouncing around in his skull like a rubber ball. Luffy really had a way of making everything a mess, truly this was his talent. Law had lost count of the amount of close calls he has with death today alone. He was in so much pain that he didn’t even try to suppress the coughs being jolted forcibly from his throat. Luffy looked concerned but kept running nonetheless, determined to keep moving, to help Law. 

Talk about close fucking calls. Luffy was so last minute in removing his cuffs that he was sure he would die this time, in the mouth of a huge toy soldier. Pathetic. He felt a lot more like himself with his wounds beginning to close, Kikoku in his hand, the familiar weight on his shoulder. Then his lungs reminded him of the literally plants trying to suffocate him and he began hacking violently. His blood ran cold as he looked at the whole flowers in his hands. Blue Monkshood, red Cyclamen.  _ Beware, a deadly foe is near and...Resignation. Goodbye.  _

He stared at the vibrant colored petals before letting them gracefully fall to the ground. This would be the end. He glanced at Luffy and felt time slow. That smile, that laugh, that strength and courage, even the stubborn childishness, Law would miss them all. He loved them all, the longer he was around him, the deeper he fell into an endless pit of Luffy. The more he fell for the Strawhat wearing idiot, the deeper the roots in his lungs grew, the closer death came. It was crazy and fun while it lasted, but this was the end. The day he would avenge Cora-san finally, to end the nightmare that was Doflamingo, and he would be able to die peacefully. 

Law didn’t think he would miss so much. The silly shenanigans on the ship, the stupid bread jokes, the clingy crew, the idiocy, the partying until dawn. He of course would miss his own submarine and crazy, stupid crew. Shachi, Penguin, and of course Bepo. In this one slow moment Law felt so thankful for all the things in his life, all the people that have become important to him. His heart broke as he watched, and silently said goodbye to all of his friends and to the crazy man he loved.  _ This is my goodbye Luffy.  _ The vines around his lungs constricted his lungs as tears threatened to fall from his eyes. He pulled his hat down over his eyes as he set his resolve. 

They were almost to the top of the plateau when Law had to stop for another coughing fit. They were becoming more frequent and excruciating. The vines were always in his throat now, his breath coming in short puffs of air, his mouth was filled with the sweet perfume of flowers, and the coppery tang of blood. Law was ready for this to be over, to be done with Doflamingo and these stupid feelings, these stupid flowers. 

Luffy stood over the huffing Shi no gekai and glared. “Law.” 

_ Woah, he’s never said my name before.  _ Law looked up confused, ignoring his racing heart.

“Stay here.” Luffy looked determined, “You’re too sick to be in this battle.” 

Oh, Law was down right pissed, and barely happy Luffy was worried about him, but pissed nonetheless. “Stay here?! Are you crazy? Don’t underestimate _me, or him!_ Doflamingo will kill you!” 

“I’ve already seen you shot today and weird flowers.” Luffy’s face softened, “I don’t want to see you die. I won’t. I will protect you.” Luffy smiled that bright, blinding smile as he added, “Plus I can’t die! I’m gonna be king of the pirates!” He laughed.

Law smiled back at that amazing smile, before he pulled out a room and left luffy in pieces on the ground. Luffy was so confused, shouting at Law as he walked away. 

“I’m sorry Luffy-ya, I need to do this.” Law smiled sadly back and Luffy before heading to the den of the beast. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, Kudos, are all welcomed! Thanks for reading!  
My flower language reference: https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/publications/flowers/flowers.html


End file.
